Earning Their Wings
by Tori Yuki Ichimura
Summary: Looks like our favorite five have finally bit the dust, but when they get to the afterlife, it's more than just a simple banishment to the eternal fires of Hell. They're given a chance to get into Heaven, but why is it so haaard? (Chapter 20 UP!)
1. The Pilots Spontaneously Combust

**Guardian Angels**

         _It was a tragic accident that claimed the lives of the Gundam pilots. After years of war and terrible bloody battles, their untimely ends seemed almost anti-climactic… How did they die, you ask? Well, it went something like this…_

         "TROWA!? WHAT DO I DO AFTER I TURN ON THE GAS!?" Heero yelled. For all his great soldier-ness, he wasn't a spectacular cook. He looked at the pot on the stove, then towards the living room where Trowa was sitting at the moment, then back at the pot, then back at the living room, then at the pot, and the living room, pot, living room, pot, living room… Of course, inside his head he was calculating things at a mile a minute, such as the wind direction, the air pressure, and the local gravity in the kitchen, but the result was a Gundam pilot that closely resembled a startled rabbit.

         "Ignite it," Trowa replied. Apparently, after all that thinking, he had not bothered to multiply the fact that the gas had been on high for a good five minutes by the fact that gas was, in a very big way, combustible.

         From his pocket, the pilot drew a pack of matches. He smirked evilly, plucking one from it's little container.

         "Hey, Quatre. Does the air in here seem a little more wavy that usual?" Duo asked, looking over at the blonde pilot. Suffice to say, those were the last words that ever left his lips.

         **KABOOM!** There was no more house. There was no more living room. There was no more cooking pot. And there were no more Gundam pilots.

~*~At The Pearly Gates~*~

         "NEXT!" called a young-looking man seated at a judge's desk. The five pilots looked about them and saw no one else. "NEXT!" the man shouted again.

         With four equal-intensity deathglares, the boys pushed Heero in front of them and up to the desk.

         "Name?" he asked.

         "Heero Yuy. Who are you?"

         "Saint Peter." He flipped through the huge book in front of him. "I'm going to need your real name, sir. Heero Yuy already came through here."

         Heero looked confused for a moment, then thoughtful, then returned to looking confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out, so he closed it again.

         Saint Peter sighed exasperatedly. "Alright. I'll deal with you in a moment. Stand to the side. NEXT!"

         Trowa stepped up to the booth and gave the man a level stare.

         "Name?"

         "Trowa Barton."

         He flipped through his giant book again. "Trowa Barton already came through here as well." Trowa rolled his eyes and stood next to Heero.

         "NEXT!" 

         Duo stepped forward. He looked between his group of friends who already been deemed nameless and the pearly gates. 

         "Name?"

         "Duo Maxwell! You may also know me as the Great Destroyer, the Shinigami, or the God of Death! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

         "Send that one to Hell," Saint Peter frowned and quite suddenly two burly angels appeared from a celestial hammerspace pocket and started to drag him off. "Take me home, boys!" he laughed.

         "WAIT!" Quatre and Wu Fei yelled at once. Everyone froze. Telling Saint Peter he couldn't do something was certainly a first, and not something I would recommend.

         "Names?" he scowled.

         "Wu Fei Chang and Quatre Raberba Winner!" the little blonde boy scowled right back. He wasn't going to let anyone separate him from his friends, regardless of whether they could send him to Hell or not.

         "Chang and Winner, eh?" He consulted his big book. "Mr. Winner, you have an excellent reputation. Always kind and considerate. Thinks of others. Empathetic…" Quatre smiled a little under the weight of the compliments. "…but it also says here that you went crazy and blew up a whole bunch of space Colonies."

         Quatre raised a finger and began to utter a response, but Saint Peter cut him right off.

         "And Chang Wu Fei. It says here you are a strong upholder of justice, and have honored your dead wife to the extent of your abilities. She has been watching over you for quite a while…"

         "Nataku?"

         "But it also says that you joined Marimeia's side during the latest war and attacked your former comrades."

         The Chinese boy's face fell.

         "Hmmm… This is interesting…"

         The five pilots looked up at the man as he poked through a few things on a palm pilot.

         "Shouldn't you be using the book?" Trowa asked.

         "Meh, it's only for show." He went right back to his technology-poking. After a few minutes, he put it down and sighed.

         "I got an e-mail from God. He says I should give you another chance since you _did_ end that war and all."

         "WHOO-HOO!" Duo cheered and broke away from the two angels holding him. He ran up to the desk and looked Saint Peter straight in the eye. The other pilots stepped up behind him and fixed him with more deadpan looks.

         "What do you want!?" he cried, holding up an arm as if to fend them off.

         "Well, you see, we had a friend come through here a little while ago, and we want to know if we can see her," Heero menaced, reaching for his gun in case of an emergency. Finding it wasn't there, he still tried to hold his semblance of confidence, but it was beginning to crumble.

         "Name?"

         "Duet Maxine."

         "There's no one named Duet Maxine here…" 

The boys exchanged worried looks, Wu Fei mouthing the words "I think she went to Hell…"

"Well, what if I told you she never really had a name?" Duo asked.

"Was she ever Confirmed under a name?"

The braided boy smirked a sinister smirk and toyed with the cross around her neck. "Certainly. It was Juli-"

"DUO MAXWELL! OMEA O KOROSU!" cried a female voice. It echoed through their head and reverberated all around them.

"Did I just get yelled at by God?" His question was answered when the pearly gates swung open and a very angry-looking angel with long, unbound chestnut hair and smoldering sapphire eyes stomped out.

"Duet is God?" the five asked at once and Saint Peter face-faulted.

"Julian, these friends of yours?" he asked, dusting himself off.

"…Julian?" Trowa snickered and the others were enveloped in a fit of giggles.

"No, Pete. Not friends… Why weren't they banished to Hell already? You're gonna get fired for slacking off."

The boys straightened up and fixed her with pleading looks.

She sighed. "Alright. I'll give them their second chances. S'what God sent me out here to do, anyways…"

"YAY!"

"Follow me…"

~*~Inside The Pearly Gates~*~

"Sooo… This is heaven, eh?" Duo asked, walking next to the lovely angel that had once been his girlfriend.

"It is now," she replied dreamily. The pilots looked about them, each seeing something different, and for that reason they stuck close to Duet.

"Why is it so… crappy?" Trowa mused, for in his particular vision, heaven was one giant Shop Rite. 

         "Because you haven't earned it yet…" the un-braided girl replied and took Quatre's hand. The poor boy had to walk through a heaven of nude beaches because of a few measly Colonies and had therefore covered his eyes and was stumbling blindly.

         "Merian!" Wu Fei called as he spotted his wife through the chain-link fence of the prison his heaven was. She smiled and then waved as if to say, "Yeah, I'd talk to you now, but you have to earn me first." The Chinese boy accepted this and shrugged, jogging to catch up to the group that had left him behind.

         "Here we are!" Duet grinned once they reached another gate. This one was only about knee-height and looked like something that would provide an entrance to the inner confines of a white picket fence rather than the place where the pilots would, heh, 'earn their wings'. 

         Once they passed through it though, they found themselves smack dab in the middle of the heaven cliché, white fluffy clouds and all. Angels flew past casually, some slowing a moment to greet Duet and check out the fresh meat. The former Washi Ookami pilot clapped twice and all motion ceased.

         "Now THAT'S power," Duo whispered as the angels and angels-in-training turned to face and bowed to Duet. She set them back to work with a nod, but her assistant walked right up to them.

         "TREIZE!?!?!?" they five boys gasped and Treize smiled.

~*~*~*~*~*~

To Be Continued…

**Tori: **Maybe even more tonight! But I probably won't get around to posting it…  I'm in love with this story!

**Ke: **You mean more this MORNING!

**Tori: **You and your crazy American times.

**Ke: **Actually, teens are hardwired to stay up late at night and wake up late in the morning.

**Tori: **You mean… it's in our blood?

**Ke: **In your _genes._

**Tori: **That explains a lot…


	2. The Pilots Meet Their Maker

**Tori: ***yawn* Here it is… But I've just been inspired to start another fic! *can no longer keep track*

**Ke: **Well, you see, I'm Union, so…

**Tori: **O.o There's a Muse Union!?

~*~*~*~*~

            "What's Treize doing in Heaven!?" the five boys chorused.

            "The same thing you're doing here," Duet snorted and the former bubble-bath Nazi¹ nodded.

            "I'm merely earning my wings. Duet is the instructor here and-"

            His sentence was cut short as the knee-high gate swung open again and a tall, very handsome Italian man walked in. Everyone gasped and bowed deeply, except for the, well, yeah, the pilots. Who'd you expect? Okay, maybe Martin Luther King Jr. didn't bow quite so deeply, but only because he was on such good terms with the new arrival that he didn't see it totally necessary.

            The man walked up to group, shot an icy-blue-eyed glance at the boys and looked down at Duet.

            "Cut the crap and stand up. I know you better than to think you're actually worshipping me," he joked amiably, and the un-braided girl straightened and smirked.

            "Sup, God? My sandal was untied, is'all…"

            "GOD!?" the guys yelled, then looked back and forth a few times between the celestial amigos.

            The Italian-looking man turned to them. "Name's God. You may also know me as Kami-sama, Yahweh, Allah, The Moral Law of Heaven, Zeus, Jehovah…"

            Duo looked cross for a moment, then laughed, then seemed a bit of both as God slanted him a confused look.

            "Who the hell are you?"

            "_I_ am the God of Death!" the braided boy replied and Duet slapped her forehead in despair. God seemed even more confused by this and touched a finger to his forehead.

            "Oh! I remember you now! You were always messing around with this one, right?" Here he trust a thumb over his shoulder at Duet, who was beet red. "Well, there's not polytheism here, so looks like I reign supreme!" He dusted his fingernails on the front of his black silk shirt and inspected them before smiling knowingly. Around them, the others were still bowing. No, I didn't forget about them... I mean, you just don't stop bowing to God even though he's talking to someone else, right?

            "Th-there are so many questions I have to ask you!" Quatre cried suddenly, catching everyone by surprise. "Allah, I have spent my life serving you to the best of my abilities! But, please, tell me… Why are you Italian?"

            The others decided this was a pretty good question and sat back, waiting for the answer.

            "Because," God explained carefully. "Any other questions?"

            "God… Why is Quatre blonde, blue-eyed, and fair-skinned if he just called you Allah?" Duo asked and Quatre shot him a deathglare.

            "Easy. Quatre comes from an Arabian tribe known as the Berbers. They had similar genetic traits."

            "Oh."

            "I learn something new about me every day…" Quatre said thoughtfully. "Thank you for solving the mystery of my Caucasian-faced existence."

            "Is this the thing you humans call 'sarcasm'?"

            "Aren't you supposed to be omniscientific?"

_[A/N: About this time, Margaritaville came on 96.5, so I had to make myself a margarita, which means this is going to get weirder before it gets better…Why I felt the need to explain this… only God knows. Although I have a sneaking suspicion it was" that frozen concoction that helps me hang on"…]_

            "Aren't you supposed to be-- …I don't know what that means…" God hung his head and the surrounding angels fixed him with questioning looks.

            "That's because he just invented that word…" Heero deadpanned. 

            "Well, that makes me feel better…" God sighed in relief and wiped his forehead.

            "Um, I believe we have drifted a little off-topic?" Treize cut in and everyone looked at him funny before promptly resuming the conversation.

            "So anyway… Your friend here's one of my top employees. That's why I sent her to give you your second chances," God explained and the five boys were suddenly interested again.

            "We get to be reincarnated! COOL! I want to come back as a birdie! **^___^**" Trowa yelled and clenched his fists, completely out of character. Aside from weirding everyone else out, he also drew a couple of looks that resembled those of skeptical raccoons. 

**O.o**

**o.O**

**O.O**

**6__6**

**9__9**

**--__--***

            "Erm, *cough* I mean: …" the banged boy corrected himself and stood quietly, looking stoic as ever.

            "Seriously, I have no idea who these people are. We just met outside the gate…" Duet tried to explain. One of the closer angel's spines gave out and he collapsed into an exhausted and heaving heap in the middle of a cumulonimbus. 

            "Okay, you people can carry on. Right now I need to deal with this little problem…" God frowned. The others looked worried, and with good reason.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Makoto and I were watching Gundam Wing at some insanely early hour of the morning and the part where Treize was in the hot tub came on, so Makoto shouts "AHHH! IT'S THE BUBBLE-BATH NAZI!!!" and promptly falls off the couch. When he didn't get right back up, I looked over and he had fallen asleep.

**Ke: **Crazy college kids…

**Tori: **I really, _really_ love this story! I don't care who hates it!

**Ke: ***raises hand* I hate it! Start the other one!

**Tori: **Okay… Here's a sneak peak. I love to get other authors involved in my stories, so…

**Ke: **THAT was you sneak peak?

**Tori: ***nods*

**Ke: ***facefaults* What am I going to do with you?


	3. The Pilots Manage To Lock Quatre In A Cl...

**Tori: ***looks away* 9____9

**Ke: ***looks away * `(' - ')'

**Trowa: ***looks confused* ///_O

~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Exactly how are we supposed to _earn_ heaven?" Heero asked, jogging a bit to catch up with Duet and God, who were walking a few feet in front of the boys.

            "So I had the Family over dinner one night, you see, and all of a sudden Louie makes some crack about me being the Godfather, so I-"

            "GOD!" Heero yelled, cutting the Almighty Ruler of All off. The two turned around slowly, looking equally pissed.

            "…the hell, Heero…" Duet groaned, shaking her head and covering her face.

            "What?" God frowned and crossed his arms.

            "I just wanted to know what we have to do to 'earn' Heaven?" he huffed, looking for all the world like a five-year-old who wasn't getting his way in a candy store.

            "You! Get out of my paradise! You just forfeited it!" the Italian-looking man roared and pulled out a shiny new Colt. Heero meep-ed and ducked behind Duo, who just seemed confused.

            Duet snatched the gun away from God and chucked it over her shoulder. "None of that, now, sir… You're setting a bad example for your son…" 

            A teenage Jesus chose that moment to saunter up to the group. "What up, G?" he asked God and draped one arm over his shoulders and the other around Duet's. "Can I take the Nimbus out for a spin?" Sighing, God fished around in his pocket of his black suit pants and tossed his son a set of keys.

            "Thanks, old man!" Christ smirked and sauntered right back the way he came.

            "Crazy kid… Probably showing off to those Greek goddesses again… Well, let's cut to the chase." With a snap of his fingers, a wardrobe appeared in front of the group.

            "Um, why were we walking all that way if you could have just made it appear out of thin air like that?" Quatre asked, eyeing the closet.

            "Oh, no reason."

            The five boys facefaulted and Duet sweatdropped. "Really, you could stand to be a little more sensible, sir…"

            God was, of course, too busy rummaging around in the closet to listen or care. "Ah-hah!" he declared and straightened, a pair of Dr. Scholl sandals in his hand. "These are the customary shoes you will wear, and (here he turned and grabbed something else out of the closet) these are your method of transportation!" God held a pair of feathery green wings from their elastic shoulder bands and smirked sinisterly.

            "Oh, well why don't you just throw in a gold beard and we'll be all set!" Duo scoffed.

            "I was only kidding…" God sighed and tossed the wings back into the closet.

            A balding man in his late forties walked past, nodded to God, and led Duo away by the shoulder to speak with him. The braided boy returned a few moments later positively glowing. God and Duet smiled knowingly, but the four boys were just plain confused.

            "DOUGLAS ADAMS JUST SIGNED MY _ZZ9 PLURAL Z ALPHA_ MEMBERSHIP CARD!!! WAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Duo jumped around waving it in everyone's face , and when he finally tired out, collapsed into a giggling heap on the fluffy, white ground. "Hehehe…"

            God looked up from the former Deathscythe pilot and straight at, well, me. "You realize no one is going to understand your totally obscure Hitchhiker's Guide references."

            I arched an eyebrow and frowned. "Just worry about the script please. I'll say the rosary or something later, okay…? I promise."

            God rolled his eyes and turned back to scene before him.

            Duet opened the wardrobe doors wider and with a sweep of her hand gestured for them to have at it. "A robe, (Trowa, it's one size fits all.) sandals, (Yes, Duo, they actually make sandals in 4 ½ children's… No need to make fun.) a cincture, (That's a fancy word for rope-belt, Heero.) wings, (No, Quatre, not the green ones.) and a halo, (Mine's in the shop being polished, thank you very much, Fei.)" When this terrible ordeal was over, the boys stood in a line in front of the now-closed wardrobe doors, looking completely innocent in their white gowns and whatnot. But something was missing.

            "Where's the blonde one?" God asked, looking the boys over. Suddenly, a sound came from the closet behind them.

            "Guys! Let me out! This isn't funny! This stupid joke is so old! Guys…!"

            Naturally, there was a collective sweatdropping, and Quatre was released.

            "Are you a little closet monster or something?" 

            Everyone sans Quatre broke into a fit of stifled laughter and the Arabian turned red in the face. Once they had calmed a bit, Duet decided it was as good a time as any to explain exactly _what_ they were supposed to do.

            "My fellow pilots, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Oh yeah, I forgot to put this in the first two so… I'm sorry if this offends anyone. I'm a Catholic Christian, too, so don't think I'm some angry cult person out to deface the religion.

**Ke: **And…?

**Tori: **WHAT!? I do think God's Italian! Why? I dunno… but the way he runs this world, (and I don't mean to imply he runs everyone's world) just strikes me as Italian.

**Ke: ***starts calculating how many people Tori probably just offended*

**Tori: **But, hey! That's just me! ^___^* Anyways, the Pope's in Rome!

**Ke: ***is slowly being covered in calculation papers*

**Tori: **And… sorry for portraying Jesus like that… Ryo was helping me catch up on my Austin Powers, so… Yeah. _Spy Who Shagged Me_.

**Ke: ***dies from asphyxiation under papers*

**Tori: **Ke…? Kegawa…? Hello?

**…FROOT LOOPS!**

****

**WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!**

**Tori: **Well, I _know_ that offended someone.

**Stanton: ***falls over from weight of megasuperhugeexaggeratedsweatdrop*


	4. The Mission[aries]

**Tori: **More of the good stuff!

**Ke: **Where? *looks around*

**Tori: **-___-

~*~*~*~*~*~

            "…Well, basically, you have to be guardian angels," Duet said and dared one of them to laugh.

            "Guardian angels? WAHAHAHAHAHAHA…" Maxwell always was a daredevil. 

            "Go ahead. Laugh it up, but it's not as easy as it seems. You have to help these people."

            Duo stopped laughing. "You mean, we actually have to stalk these people all day and make sure they don't slip on any banana peels of get a piano dropped on them?"

            "No."

            "Oh. Good."

            "You have to stay with them twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And if you're lucky and you get one that goes to church, that's when you can take a break."

            The five boys exchanged looks, then pointed the new looks they'd just received at Duet who, with a look of her own, directed them at God. God nodded and they studied their spiffy new sandals.

            Then, Trowa asked an intelligent question.

            "Are we watching new babies?"

            "You can if you want to."

            "Well, I just thought they'd be the only ones without guardian angels…"

            "Guardian angels don't stay with people all their lives unless they become especially attached. You only have to work off you debt."

            Heero raised his hand. "What if our person dies?"

            "Certainly a Heero question…" Duet frowned. "If your person dies of natural causes or something out of their control, then your job's over since such an experience leaves most angels a little traumatized. But if your person kills themselves or something, well…" She looked away.

            "Well what?"

            "…you fail. And you end up like me."

            The boys' eyebrows twitched upwards in confusion.

            "Y'all get banished to Earth and have to start all over again."

            God nodded.

            "But… You're up here in heaven, Onna," Wu Fei helpfully pointed out.

            "I wasn't before that battle…"

            "So, you're like… really old…" Duo observed, managing to raise one eyebrow higher than the other, which was quite a feat as they were already raised in confusion.

            "Not terribly…" Duet replied.

            "Well, having finished that less-than-informative discussion, let's set you up with some people, alright?" God smirked and the mood lightened a bit. It couldn't possibly be as hard as Duet was making it out to be, could it?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Really, really, really short… I know.

**Tori: **Okay, here it's going to branch out into the five pilots decisions. I'm debating whether to make this an arc and put them as separate stories and run the risk of confusing the hell out of people in the angst and romance genres.

**Kegawa: **Or she could keep it all together under this title and just name each chapter after whose POV it's from and the number. (ex: Heero's chapter 04)

**Tori: **Ah, I think that's what I'll do. But the problem is… how do I adjust the genre?

**Kegawa:** Stick it under general.

**Tori: **At times like this I could hug you…

**Kegawa: **ICK! You're my authoress! *makes cross with claws* Stay away! Save it for Talon!

**Tori: **And it's at times like this I could shoot you.


	5. The Guarded Are Chosen

**Tori: **Here's the last bit of hitchhiker humor before I switch to that of the wry persuasion.

**Ke: **You're frickin' depressing.

**Tori: **Hey! It's not all sad!

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Heero got to choose first. He stepped up to a giant computer and watched as the faces scrolled past. "That one," he said simply and it stopped on a boy about fourteen years old with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. A hologram of the boy appeared, along with his information.

            _Name: Tobias Marshall_

_            Age: 15_

_            Location: Sicily, Italy_

_            Problems: 65% social, 30% personal, 5% academic, 0%home_

"Why did it give a list of his types of problems?" the Perfect Soldier asked, bewildered.

"You have to help him either cope with or fix them. You're his guardian angel. You watch him like a hawk," God answered. Heero nodded and stepped to the side so the next person could go.

Wu Fei was next. He watched the faces intently before muttering "onna" and rolling his eyes. It stopped and the hologram of a Spanish woman appeared.

_Name: Maria Nañita_

_Age: 18_

_Location: New York, NY_

_Problems: 90% social, 0% personal, 0% academic, 10% home_

"I didn't mean to pick her! I just said 'onna'!" Wu Fei cried, turning an angry look on God.

"Good one, Nemesis," God smirked, giving Duet a discreet five.

"Looks like justice was served, Fei," the un-braided girl laughed and the Chinese boy stomped off to join Heero.

"MY TURN!" Duo declared and jumped up. He leaned in close to the screen, finger poised in front of it, and watched the faces. He watched for some time before jabbing at one. A hologram of a young girl with chestnut hair and blue eyes stood before them. She could have been a young version of either of the braided former-pilots, and Duet frowned in confusion as Duo smiled winningly.

_Name: Rachel Falcon _[AN: …bad joke… I know…]

_Age: 14_

_Location: East Brunswick, NJ_

_Problems: 5% social, 95% personal, 0% academic, 0% home_

"…like us in more ways than one…" he remarked, scratching his head and joining the two boys already on the sidelines.

Trowa, as insisted by Quatre, went next. He simply stated "child" and pictures of kids all under the age of ten appeared. Carefully, he selected a young girl with bright blue eyes and curly blonde hair.

_Name: Donna Distano_

_Age: 5_

_Location: Versailles, France_

_Problems: 0% social, 0% personal, 0% academic, 100% home_

The banged boy nodded once in acknowledgement and stepped back so Quatre could have his turn. The blonde watched the faces, then closed his eyes and held his right hand up to the screen. Everyone froze, watching to see what he would do, when suddenly his finger darted out and the faces stopped on a man in his early twenties.

_Name: Kevin Jordan_

_Age: 22_

_Location: Anaheim, CA_

_Problems: 40% social, 55% personal, 0% academic, 5% home_

Quatre smiled warmly and joined his friends. The five as one turned to look at God and Duet.

"Alright. I'll take you to them," the former Washi Ookami pilot frowned painfully and turned to lead them to the people they were to guard.

"WAIT!" a voice cried, and the seven froze.

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Yes, another short chapter… I know.

**Ke: **Who yelled if seven people froze?

**Tori: ***smirks* You'll find out…


	6. The Truth Is Revealed (or one of them at...

**Tori: **I'd of thought one of you would have guessed!

**Ke: **…rub it in…

**Tori: **Think…Who died? 

**Ke: ***rattles off list* Odin Lowe, Marshall Noventa, Fr. Maxwell, Sr. Helen …

**Tori:** *nods* We shall see.

~*~*~*~*~*~

         Slowly, Duet turned around and when she saw who it was, stood at strict attention. God looked too, and his eyes drooped. 

         Not far off stood, well, God, only he seemed more…holy. His polished onyx halo floated above his dark hair at the slightest of an angle, and his piercing blue eyes looked more through them than _at_ them.

         "I think you've had your fun," he said, his voice echoing all around. He smiled slightly as the man they once thought was God fidgeted and then dropped his disguise.

         Stringy blond hair replaced short ebony, and his angel-blue eyes took on a hint of green. He thinned and shrunk and changed to become the lanky teen from the L2 pilots' pasts.

         "Solo…" Duo whispered, and hesitated only momentarily before wrapping his arms around him in a firm bear hug. A tear slid down his check and splashed on Solo's shoulder.

         "Who is that?" Heero asked, a bit resentful. Duet's smiled when she turned away from the scene was as close to motherly as a bloodstained mercenary-turned-angel could manage. 

         "An old friend," she replied. God, the _real_ God, joined them.

         "He was going to let them go without saying anything if I didn't interrupt," God explained, "But I'll leave you to your duties now, Julian." And with that, he disappeared in a flash of light.

         "STOP CALLING ME JULIAN!" Duet cried and cheerful laughter echoed about before fading into an awkward silence.

         Solo looked up from Duo, scanning the faces of the five other pilots, eyes stopping on Duet. He shook the braided boy a bit and he stood on his own, swiping the tears from his eyes.

         "Sorry, man… But it's been so long and- What?"

         The two other L2 orphans were blinking a bit. Whether it was in confusion or just plain surprise was yet to be determined.

         "No one… has called me 'man' in nine years…" the older angel explained. His lips twitched into a smiled and he ruffled Duo's hair. "Yep, you're definitely Duo! It's nice you kept the name too."

         "If you call him Duo, why do you call Duet 'Julian'?" Quatre asked, a bit perplexed by the whole ordeal. He was beginning to accept the fact that nothing made sense any more (And that his Houri wasn't going to show up any time soon… Hehehe…) and decided to focus on the small, insignificant things that would eventually explain the larger, incomprehensible things.

         "I gave Duo his name. Julian took the name Duet. Just as Trowa took his name, and therefore cannot bear it. Heero shall be Heero, because it was given, as you are Quatre by your father and Wu Fei is such by the will of his clan."

         Quatre nodded. It made sense… in some odd, nonsensical way.

         "What is my name then?" Trowa frowned. His name had seemed to fit him so perfectly, but he had never worn it with pride. It was as if a weight was being lifted off his shoulders, knowing he was no longer hiding behind someone else's mask, but rather starting with a clean slate and a fresh face.

         "You are Nanashi."

         He shuddered. Nanashi brought back horrible memories, but he couldn't deny that that's who he was. 

         "Julian isn't any better for me, Tro, so I'm still gonna go by Duet," Duet smiled warmly.

         "What about Triton Bloom?" the banged boy grimaced, still disgusted with Nanashi.

         "Triton Bloom could have been your name, but you never lived as Triton Bloom."

         "…"

         "Come on… We've wasted enough time standing around… You need to find your wards." Duet waved her hand at them and started off again in the direction they were originally heading in. 

         Reluctantly, Duo left Solo's side and followed after the angel that had once been his girlfriend. 

         "Duo!" the boy called out and he turned on his heel. "Nice choice. Julian's a keeper," he grinned and somewhere in himself the former Deathscythe pilot found the strength to smile again. 

         "HEY! I HEARD THAT!"

         "I'll see you around, Solo!"

         "That you will, kid… That you will."

~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **I'm sorry these chapters are so short, but I want to get the out and I don't have as much free time as I let on!

**Ke: **A good part of this story was written while Tori was leaning on podium, waiting for her students to finish their tests.

**Tori:** A~nyway…If you were wondering, a Houri is what's promised to a pious Muslim. It's basically- *is bleeped out by Microsoft*

**Ke: ***scratches head* Well, that was weird…

**Tori: ***mumbling curses* …compound relative pronoun… Achem! (yes, 'compound relative pronoun' _is_ a curse. Why? *shakes head* …I donwanna talk about it…)


	7. Heero & Tobias 01

**Tori: **Finders Inc.! Geeze, I better get to work!

**Kegawa: ***whispers* This is where I come in… *louder* Well, looks like you'll be needing a bit of inspiration, then!

**Tori: **You're right.

**Kegawa: ***winks at camera*

**Tori: ***walking out front door* I'm off to get a pizza and some Mike's! Then, we write!

**Kegawa: **`(^-^)' I have got to be one of the luckiest muses…

**Tori: **And I'll pick you up some sesame seeds or something.

**Kegawa: ***facefaults* …take it back…

~*~*~*~

            Stepping closer to the edge of the cirrus, the pilots began testing the wings secured to their backs. They craned their necks to check on them, and yanked on the harnesses to make sure they were tight.

            "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of these. Consider them your training wings…" Duet reassured and they relaxed a bit.

            "Training wings, ne?" Wu Fei grunted, chasing them in a few circles before realizing how absolutely foolish he looked and stood still.

            "You'll have to wait for a double-click," she explained, preening her black feathers, a bit smug.

            "Double-click?" the five boys chorused and looked up from their self-inspections.

            "Heaven's gone digital. Ever see the pop-up ads that say 'Every time you click here, an angel gets its wings'?"

            "…why do I suddenly regret my ad-blocker…?" Quatre frowned, creasing his brow before the others burst into laughter.

            "That's twisted! If you click them, you go straight to the Red… Cross… Damnit, why didn't I figure this out myself…?" Duo complained, undoubtedly wishing that others weren't as quick as he on the "x" button..

            "You haven't left yet?" a new voice asked, and the former pilots turned to see Mr. Winner smiling good naturedly at them.

            "Father!" Quatre cried, on his toe to run to him.

            "Ah ah… You've got to leave. Now," he said and the cloud supporting them no longer did.

~*~*~*~

            They were falling. Quickly. Then, one by one, they made use of the wings and came to jerking halts in mid-air.

            "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" the braided boy yelled and threw his fists in the air as he continued to freefall.

            "Open your wings, you moron!" Wu Fei yelled, fluttering about in the air above them.

            "Honestly… You people." Sighing, Duet snapped her fingers and above them they heard a faint "WHOOOOO!" growing louder and louder. A few seconds later, Duo fell right past them again, still whooping in delight. Fortunately for anyone cruising at an altitude of 120,000 meters who desired a little peace and quiet, Heero snagged the back of his robe, effectively strangling him.

            "Open your wings," the once Perfect Soldier snapped and Duo obliged, albeit shamefully.

            "Whoo," he whispered, raising his fist half-heartedly.

            "Now, first things first. We're cruising over Europe at the moment, so we'd best dump off Trowa and Heero…" Duet mumbled to herself, consulting a clipboard she'd magically produced from a place that I'm not creative enough to name at the moment. I know. I'm a slacker… "Who wants to go first?"

            Trowa and Heero pointed to each other and busied themselves by studying the local cloud structures.

            "Heero, you killed everyone, so it's only fair that you go first," Quatre explained and the boy's face fell.

            "I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"

            "NO!"

~*~*~*~

            "THREE-POINT LANDING!" Duo cried as he hit the ground on his side, rolled a few meters, and jumped to his feet with fists thrust proudly in the air. The others were equally successful, with the exception of Duet, who perched gracefully on an electrical wire.

            "Showoff…" Wu Fei murmured.

            "What I wouldn't give to see her step on the other wire…" Trowa added, watching as she ran the length of the cable before reaching the post and jumping gracefully off.

            "Well, we're off to find Tobias Marshall!" she smiled brightly and started off down the street whistling happily.

            With a look of pure and utter contempt on his face, Heero struggled to his feet and yanked the pine needles, one by one, from the porcupine-like coat he'd recently acquired. Looking back at the bush though, his eyes contorted. First, he saw the huge dent he'd left, but then he saw the bush as it had been before it had become his new landing strip.

            He experimented with this double vision, closing one eye, then the other. Duo, Trowa, Wu Fei, and Quatre joined him, similarly amused, and the five stood blinking at the bush, in the middle of someone's front lawn, dressed in white robes and huge feathery white wings… 

            "What the _hell _are you doing?" Duet croaked, choked by the absurdity of the sight.

            "The… bush…" Wu Fei helpfully explained.

            "Oh. Astral bush, physical bush. Just focus your eyes."

            A collective "Oooooooo" rose from the group, followed by an equally amused "Ahhhhhhhh".

            Unfortunately for the people who find humor in such things, the front door to the house whose lawn they were standing in the middle of swung open. A boy about their age stepped out, shrugging his backpack on. He slanted a curious look in the angels' direction before heading off down the sidewalk towards the town.

            "That's our man!" Duet yelled and the boys looked up.

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Yeah, I know it took a while, but here it is! And a bit longer than the last, too!

**Kegawa: ***dragging self across the table and feigning starvation* Can… I have… a bit of… pizza…?

**Tori: ***drains a Mike's lemonade and conks the ferret with the empty bottle* 

**Kegawa: ***leaps to his feet and points at Tori* EVIL! EVIL! SATAN! EVIL! BITCH! EVIL!

**Tori: **Oh yeah… NOW I wanna give you a piece of pizza. *rolls eyes*


	8. Heero & Tobias 02

**Tori:** [wearing a band across her forehead and a yukata robe] Next chapter up! *tosses copy into the air, catches it, and tosses it to a similarly dressed muse*

**Kegawa: ***catches it and spins it on his paw* And it's a hot one!

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Heero took off running after the boy, but when he caught up, Tobias didn't seem to notice. "Why doesn't he…" Time froze.

            "…showoff…" Duet growled, slanting a glance at the new angelic arrival standing in front of a bewildered Heero who had appeared along with the stopping of time and whatnot.

            "This my replacement?" asked an older man with dark brown hair and shaded blue eyes.

            "Yeah, your term's up, Yuy."

            "Yuy..?" echoed the five boys. They exchanged more looks of confusion which had suddenly become the thing to do at times like this. God forbid they ever face any real danger any more or they'd die lost and bewildered-looking.

            "Heero Yuy. The pacifist advocate of the Colonies. And you must be my namesake," he smiled, patting Heero's shoulder with a thick hand. "Tobias here's a tough one, but you can handle it, can't you? Good luck!" And with that the former Colonial leader disappeared. 

            As the once Perfect Soldier watched in awe (or possibly confusion, because his expressions are all pretty much the same), manacles clamped around his wrists and chains wound about his slim figure.

            "-the hell is this!?" he cried and Duet winced.

            "They should disappear in a few seconds," she explained and waited for the boy to calm down. Slowly, the chains melted into his angelic flesh until only the shackles on his wrists remained.

            When the blinding glow that had surrounded him finally faded, time jump-started. 

            "-pacifist advocate of the Colonies… You can handle it, can't you?…" Duet mimicked, sneering at the man who'd just left.

            Heero only blinked in, you called it, confusion as did Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Wu Fei. "Wh-what were the chains for?" he managed, his throat feeling a bit dry which he knew was impossible since, Hey! he was dead, but you know how your mind can play tricks on you.… 

            "Eh, God's into a lot of symbolism and stuff. Basically they prevent you from being separated from your ward."

            "How would one become separated?" Wu Fei frowned, schemes already forming in his mind.

            "DON'T even THINK it. Those things will give you such a shock… But sometimes spirits become a little too mischievous for their own good and might try to nab your charge."

            "Spirit? Like a hikitsune or something?" Heero grimaced and Duet nodded sadly. "I didn't even know there were such things really out there…"

            "What would a spirit want with a human?" Trowa asked, eyeing Heero's cuffs. 

            "Well, most of the time they would try to use your ward to get to you. Their intentions are always different, make friends, destroy you, they're tricky little buggers, but the stress of it would drive your ward crazy."

            "Oh. I get it…" Quatre nodded, bringing a philosophical finger to his chin.

            "No, you don't, Quatre. You're not fooling anyone." Duo turned from his blonde friend and fixed Duet with another of his inquiring looks.  "Now, ah… Where is Heero's new friend going?"

            The angels turned to look and say Tobias halfway on the giant yellow school bus stopped at the corner of the street.

            "Heero, hurry! I'll come back to give you some help after I've dropped everyone else off!" the un-braided girl yelled, but Heero was too far away after the boy to hear her. "…he'll make a good guardian angel…"

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Wow. Here's the next extremely late chapter. I'm sorry… I know it's inexcusable, but I just got these nail tips and-

**Kegawa: **Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

**Tori: **-I can't wait for them to fall off. ARGH!

**Kegawa: **You think you've got it bad? I'm the one who has to sit here listening to you drum on everything!

**Tori: **I need a fricken' scratching post… *unconsciously starts petting Kegawa*

**Kegawa: ***grits teeth* Help… Me… *twitches*


	9. Trowa & Donna 01

**Tori: **Shoujocon is over! *cries*

**Kegawa: **You're hair looks funny! *laughs*

**Tori: **Bangs, but only for the sake of cosplay, and now I'm growing them right back out.

**Awa: **She keeps digging herself into these long-term ruts… The nails, now the hair…

**Kegawa: **Ah! Tori's becoming a ko-gal! RUN AWAY!

**Muses: ***run away screaming*

**Tori: **-___- They seem to be getting along well…

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Heero slipped in between the bus's doors just as they were closing and collapsed panting on steps. "…stupid afterlife…" He gathered his strength in time to avoid the kids at the next stop and stepped back to scan the seats for Tobias. He spotted him sitting alone near the back of the bus with his headphones on staring blankly out the window.

            The former Perfect Soldier was at a loss of what to do. He walked hesitantly up to the boy and sat down next to him. He poked him. Tobias didn't move. Heero had a sudden recollection of the bush he'd mutilated. "Right. Physically, I can't affect him. Fantastic." He crossed his arms and sighed. "This is going to be a long eternity…"

~*~*~*~

            Duet was worried about Heero, but there were still four more sinners for her to deal with. She had to bite her lip to keep from moaning out loud at the unfairness of being separated from her friends once again. She had always known the day would come when she would be reunited with them in heaven (or hell, as was the more frequent vision of her future) but as she watched them laugh and joke around despite their situation once again she knew they would never change, and at the end of the day, they would be there waiting, all goofy smiles and lopsided grins. 

            She was awakened from these depressing thoughts by two sharp raps on her head. "Awake in there?" Duo asked, his bright blue eyes impatient for an answer.

            Duet countered with a flick to the forehead. "Quit it." She looked over at Quatre, Trowa, and Wu Fei and signed again. "C'mon, Tro… Let's get you to Donna."

~*~*~*~

            Their second attempts at landing were slightly more successful, Quatre being the only one to tumble into anything, but he was fine after he got himself out of that tree. 

The sun was just dipping over the western horizon, tinting the Great Canal lovely shades of purple and crimson. People walked past, around, and through them as they stood looking out over the water.

"Versailles is beautiful," Quatre smiled, tucking one of his longer bangs behind his ear. The others nodded in agreement and were content to continue sightseeing, but Donna caught Trowa's eye.

Unlike the other families milling about, Donna's was trudging along. Her father very nearly dragged her by her wrist to their car where he told her to get in.

            Trowa cast his friends a sidelong glance, squeezed Quatre's hand, and dodged his way through the crowd to slide into the car next to her. All the other could see from where they stood was another blinding flash and another celestial servant taking her leave.

            "Hey, man. We'll see him again," Duo smiled, wrapping an arm around the blonde boy's shoulders and pulling him tighter. Quatre nodded and managed a smile.

            Yes, it did suck seeing everyone go…

~*~*~*~

**Tori: ***takes out plastic banjo and a baseball cap and starts singing* I have nothing… More to say… But usually… I talk all day!

**Ke: **"-and stuff and junk and stuff…"

**Tori: **Grrr… *breaks banjo over Kegawa's head*****


	10. Quatre & Kevin 01

**Tori:** FOUND IT! *holds Zip disk in the air and grins triumphantly*

**Kegawa: **I don't know about everyone else, but I personally am wondering WHY THE HELL IT WAS IN YOUR SHOE!?

**Tori: ***sweatdrop* It probably fell in there when I put my sneakers in my suitcase! ^__^*

**Kegawa: **Oh… Well, now that we have the other computer hooked up…

**Awa: **DIBS! *plops down in chair and starts another Spider Solitaire Marathon*

~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Who's next?" Duet frowned as the four remaining former pilots drifted on a listless zephyr above the Atlantic ocean. No one volunteered. "Please…someone volunteer," she groaned and held her forehead. It was getting harder to maintain her façade of self control. There was some reason behind having Treize as her right-hand man. He had enough experience with her to keep her from going stark raving mad at times. She, of course, was one the verge of one of those "times".

            "I'll go," Quatre said after a moment. The throbbing at the girl's temples lessened.

            "Thanks, Q. To Anaheim it is!"

            Although logic stated that Duo and Wu Fei should be dropped off before as their destination was closer, Duet was not the geography buff her job description would have you believe. Besides, neither of those two were all that eager to be left alone on the world below. It wasn't nearly the same as it had been before Heero's fateful dabbling in the culinary arts.

            In an attempt to loosen up the tense moments they had left together, Duet attempted something that had been rather popular on the other bank of the Styx; conversation.

            "So, uhhh… You guys died in a cooking accident?"

            The three boys looked up from the expanse of blue below them. "Yeah…" they replied in unison.

            "That's, ummm… Unfortunate."

            "Well, we can't all go out in a blaze of emotionally-charged glory," Wu Fei frowned. It took a few moments of silence afterwards before the four burst out laughing.

            These were the moments Duet had missed for so long. Hours of nonstop, insane, mindless happiness. No one could make her laugh like her fellow pilots had. She groaned inwardly as the scenery below went from ocean blue to the greens and browns an unsightly blotches or winding gray strips of gray civilization. Estimate time left with Quatre: 4.83 minutes and counting.

            Now the conversation was drifting into the 'Remember when…'s and the 'And then…'s. It would have been hard not to smile when Duo independently acted out an argument between Trowa and Wu Fei or when Quatre blushed at the mention of walk-in closets.

            They made the mistake of starting to enjoy themselves and consequently found themselves above the Pacific Coast Highway before time had flown too far out of sight. Still, they drifted a bit further north before they were hovering over their destination.

            "Disney Land," Duo deadpanned, sliding an accusing glare in Duet's direction under half-shut eyelids.

            "Disney Land…?" she repeated, accepting that glare and casting it heavenwards. 

            "Well, Disney Land _is_ in Anaheim…" Wu Fei shrugged.

            "There he is!" Quatre pointed to a dark-skinned man with his arm about the shoulders of a young, grinning red-head. There were a few more college kids in their group that weaved its way through the crowds towards a picnic table.

            The blonde looked away from his ward and back at his friends. "I'm going to miss you… We haven't been all separate for more than a day in years." He took Duo's hands in his and bowed, then repeated the process with Wu Fei. Finally, he turned to Duet and hugged her. "And I haven't seen you in years. It's unfair that we should be separated so quickly," he murmured, then turned away and rushed towards his ward before anyone could see him crying.

            "He always was the empathy…" Duet mused, choking back some of her own tears as, in a flash of light, Quatre joined young man. His former guardian angel fluttered up, past the three hovering above the scene, and with a quick salute for the un-braided girl he was also gone.

            Wu Fei looked between his two remaining friends and allowed a small smile to grace his face. "I'll go next," he announced and they began to drift again, back across the continent, huddled close on the light air current that carried them.

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **These chapters are DAMN short, but I never know where to end them to keep them from going on and on and on… So I pick chapter points.

**Awa: **In laymen's terms?

**Tori: **I end them like paragraphs; at the end of an idea.

**Kegawa: **You sure do like to babble on about things people don't care about, ne?

**Tori: **O__O *struck by sudden thought* Do Japanese-Canadians say "aye" or "ne"???

**Awa: **They say 'oui'!


	11. Wu Fei & Maria 01

**Tori: **KaZaAAAAAAAAA! *huggles computer*

**Awa & Kegawa:** *sweatdrop*

**Awa: **She _really _loves that illegal music, doesn't she?

**Kegawa: **Yup…

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Surprisingly Duo and Wu Fei's last minutes together were spent in perfect harmony. There was no name-calling or hair-pulling or life-threatening though that last one there had become a bit meaningless. Ironically, Heero had actually managed to carry out several of his death threats.

            New York glimmered in the distance and grew steadily closer as the breeze bore them east. 

            "Sooo, we're not gonna be too far from each other. Tri-state area I guess," Duo mumbled, trying not to let his friends see how upset he was from the whole ordeal. "I mean, New Jersey people take day trips to New York all the time, right? Hey, we'll probably end up seeing each other in Little Italy or something…"

            Duet shook her head a bit, but in exasperation rather than negation. "Duo, all I can say is pray. It'll get you further than you'd believe."

            The group was above the Hudson River Bay, the Statue of Liberty towering over the tourists below them. The Chinese boy caught his breath as sunlight glanced off the Empire State Building. The three frowned at the gaping hole in the skyline and proceeded in respectful silence until they were over the area and in the heart of the city.

            "Is Maria in China Town?" he asked.

            "No such luck. She's in Manhattan," Duet replied. "But you get a God point for remembering her name."

            "God points…?" the two echoed.

            "GREAT! Now we're being graded on this stuff?" Duo cried and threw his hands up in the arm, spreading his wings for emphasis.

            "Um, no. I was only kidding, Duo."

            "Oh." He lowered his arms and looked between the other two sheepishly then lowered his gaze. "Ward at four o'clock!"

            Wu Fei and Duet both looked down to see a Spanish girl about their age sitting on a bench outside a deli. A man appeared in the doorway and she rose and followed him inside.

            "I guess this is goodbye," Wu Fei smiled sourly. 

            "For now, at least," Duo added and rested a hand on the Chinese boy's shoulder.

            "Good luck, Wu-bie doo!" Duet called as he descended after the girl.

            "DON'T CALL ME THAT, ONNA!" he yelled back and disappeared though the same doorway.

            "I pity that girl…" the braided boy frowned as a flash of light marked the transition. Another soul drifted serenely away from the scene with a nod in Duet's general direction.

            There was a moment of silence, and Duo looked from right to left in surprise. Then he stopped and raised his hand. "I volunteer to go next!"

            "…" Duet crossed her arms and smirked. "Let's go, baka." With another powerful stroke of her wings, the two began to drift south.

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! End of chapter!

**Kegawa & Awa:  **`(o-O)'***  O__o***

**Tori: ***sadistic smirk* Ain't you curious as to what's gonna happen next???

**Ke: **Duet drops Duo off?

**Tori: **Then… THE PLOT THICKENS! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

**Awa: ***scrolling through the next chapters* …well, that's nothing to laugh about…


	12. Duo & Duet

**Tori: ***hugs pictures Saori drew*

**Awa: **Oooh! The KamikazeDucks new QuickDraw stuff from GunPointArt! ((Oi! Much of a shameless plug there?))

**Kegawa:** Lemme see!

**Tori: ***proudly displays pictures of the guys and Duet as angels from random points in the story*

**Awa: **^__^ Spiffy!

**Kegawa: **Nifty!

**Tori: **Saori sketched up some storyboards to show Rei! ^___^ Oh, I hope we run this story! So many nummy pictures!!!

**Kegawa: **Our little feather freak.

**Tori: **I read _X/1999 _just because there were so many feathers on the cover!

**Awa: **Everyone cares and we're all so proud. GET TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!

**Tori: **Meep!

~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Newark!" Duo snapped and flapped a few times to avoid a plane that had just taken off. He looked back at Duet just in time to see her get caught in the wake of one of the wings and tumble a few feet before regaining her composure and fluttering back over to him.

            "I hate airports…" she scowled and, pulling one of her wings in front of her, she began to preen, fixing the damage that last stunt had caused. She was completely hidden from his view behind the thick black curtain of feathers and he did not like that at all.

            "Duet," he called, but she didn't acknowledge him. "DUET!" The wing rose and the feathers near the bottom parted so he could see her face through the gaps. She looked up at him and frowned.

            "Yes?"

            "Don't hide from me."

            The wing lowered until she could rest her chin and arms on the edge. "Who says I'm hiding from you," she whispered.

            "I do." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. As soon as he drew back, the wing went up again. 

            "Not yet!" came the muffled command and her right wing folded behind her again. "You can't yet, Duo."

            The braided boy looked hurt. "I'm…sorry," he murmured.

            They drifted on in silence. Before they had enjoys hours of silence together, considering them to be some of the best conversations they'd ever had. Now it was a hurtful, angry, longing silence. A few feet away and still miles apart; a clichéd idea, but it rang true nonetheless. 

            "Duo…?"

            "What?"

            "…nothing…"

            "Duet?"

            "What?"

            "Chicken butt."

            Duet gave him a look from above and beyond the confusion category and Duo matched it with his own look of smug suaveness.

            "Chicken butt…?"

            "Yes. I am, of course, referring to the ass of a tasty, flightless bird. The joke being that 1. I really had nothing important to say and 2. that 'chicken butt' rhymed with-"

            "I love you…"

            "-what?"

            "Don't pretend like you didn't hear me."

            "Oh, I heard you alright."

            "Then why'd you say what?"

            "Because it rhymed with 'chicken butt'."

            "No other reason?"

            "Nope."

            "Good."

            "I'm glad we had this talk."

            "…"

            "My point exactly."

            "Duo."

            "What? Chicken butt?"

            "No. Stop talking."

            "Oh. Okay. I'll just shut up then. I mean, you know I only-"

            Duet leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips. His hands immediately went for her hair, but she pulled away and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

            "I said SHUT UP!"

            This time he made no reply.

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **That has to be THE best conversation I've ever written. ^___^ Oh yeah! Next year's cosplay!

**Awa: **A little full of yourself there?

**Tori: **No, I just love choreographed conversations. 

**Kegawa: **Sounds like something they really did say…


	13. Duo & Rachel 01

**Tori: **_"I am, of course, referring to the ass of a tasty, flightless bird."_

**Awa: **Well, aren't we all…?

~*~*~*~*~*~

         "Well, if this isn't exactly what I wanted to see today…"

         The two angels looked up to see a young girl standing a few feet away, arms akimbo. Standing in mid-air? No. They were on the ground in the girl's grassy back yard. They looked at each other, then at the girl, then back at each other. Finally, Duo decided to leap into action.

         "Um…hello," he smiled and rose to his feet, pulling Duet up after him. He towered over the girl while Duet only stood an inch or two taller. "You can…see us?"

         The girl, who Duo now recognized as his ward, looked around a bit before focusing on his intense blue eyes. "Not terribly well, but well enough to swear you're standing six feet away from me."

         "Good job, Duo. You sure can pick 'em." Duet patted Duo patronizingly on the back and smirked.

         "Hey! I only-"

         Duo's sentence was cut short by the ringing of…what else? a cell phone.

         Duet fished it out of her pocket and hit the answer button as the braided boy and his ward looked on in (surprise, surprise!) confusion.

         "Hello…? Yes, this is she." Silence on Duet's part followed, but her eyes widened and her lips parted. "Yes, sir. I'm on it. Goodbye, sir."

         "What happened?" the two on-lookers chorused, then exchanged looks and shot them back at Duet.

         "Quatre. There was an accident," was all she said before she took off, leaving Duo and the girl behind.

~*~*~*~

         Duet made it to Anaheim in record time. She hovered above the spot where she had last left the blonde boy, hoping beyond hope that he hadn't gone too far in the time she'd been gone. A crowd was gathering near the hotel, across a small street from the park. An ambulance screeched to a stop outside it's double doors where two police cars were already parked. 

         "Oh God…" she moaned and with another powerful flap of her wings glided to the spot. She touched down and slipped through the doors to find a huge crowd gathered in the lobby. The police had taped off a path from the outside to the elevator doors.

         The angel whirled around and scanned the crowd gathered behind the yellow tape. Her hand shot out over the barrier, found purchase on something, and yanked it forward.

         "BENJAMIN! What happened here!?" she cried and the other angel regained his composure to respond.

         "The cable snapped. Nine people."

         She released him and he returned to his ward so her could whisper reassuring words in the small boy's ear. Duet received reports like his on a daily basis, but this one didn't succumb to her usual indifference.

         People were being wheeled out to the waiting ambulances now and she knew before she saw that one of them was Kevin, Quatre's ward. But where was Quatre? The other guardians had passed her, leading the departed souls out the doors with their bodies, explaining to them what had happened, but Kevin's body was alone and soulless.

         "Quatre!" Duet called. "WINNER! ANSWER ME, YOU FUCK!" A few heads turned, but no one responded.

         "Quatre!" She saw him, slumped against the wall, nearly obscured by a jungle of legs. "You fricken Berber…" she groaned and rushed to his side. She took his hand in hers. "Don't you even THINK of giving up! I am NOT going to lose another one!"

         Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Kevin's soul. He was huddled against the wall, hugging his knees and looking on. Guilt stained his eyes and sorrow bent his lips.

         "I'm sorry…" he said. "He was trying to help me and he just…collapsed." The man gulped for air he didn't need anymore. "I'm so sorry."

         Duet's eyes softened. "You are forgiven." She shut them and held the blonde boy's hand against her heart, her lips moving in a silent prayer to God. "Please… wake up."

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Mmmm… Tired. *collapses* ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz…

**Kegawa: **WAKE UP!

**Tori: **Oooh… *blinks sleepily at screen* Right. Not done yet.

**Awa: **…poor kid…

**Tori: **Um, I dunno. I like Rachel's character. She and Duo clash a bit; either because they're too different or too alike, I haven't decided. But we get a nice bit of mail about her. I mean, I think she's the one that most authoresses, and maybe authors, can best relate to. Just my opinion… 

**Awa: **And…?

**Tori: **The most popular question so far has been "Is Duo going to train Rachel to be a Gundam pilot?" / "Are the wards going to be the next pilots?" Nope. This is set after the war. There WILL be a Prologue eventually about the war, but whether that will be part of an arc or just a flashback/discussion I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided much. But this series is near completed (it's actually quite long) and I'm just posting in increments as I've said before. It WILL get funnier though.

**Kegawa: **That's sufficient.

**Tori: ***nods and collapses again* ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz…


	14. Duo & Rachel 02

**Tori: ***wakes up to find Awa and Kegawa staring down at her intently* Hold on. I'll let you guys out in a second…

**Awa & Kegawa: ***run to the door and start scratching on it and whining*

**Tori: **…Awa…You _have_ opposable thumbs…

**Awa: ***pouts even more and throws himself against the door, allowing himself to slide down to the floor in a moaning heap*

**Tori & Kegawa: **O.O `(O-O)' 

**Kegawa: **Just a _tad_ too dramatic there…

~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Sooo…" Duo sat on the porch step next to his ward. He hadn't touched her yet, though, so they were still separate.

            "Sooo…" Rachel agreed. 

            "You sure you can see me?"

            "Yep."

A few moments of awkward silence between the two followed.

            "Hey! Guess what?" Duo began gleefully.

            Rachel turned her head to face him, not bothering to lift her chin off her knees. "Chicken butt…?" 

            Duo gasped. "How'd you know…?"

            "Because it rhymes with 'what'…"

            The braided angel blinked a few more times before he came to a conclusion. 

"You scare me."

The girl blinked at him.

"With good reason. I instill fear in the hearts of children and adults alike…for I think and believe beyond what is expected or rational."

"Now you're re~ally scary."

"Listen." The girl sat up straight and faced him head on. "All I did was step outside my back door today. YOU were the freak with the braid dressed like you just came from a Angel Sanctuary frat party making out with some winged chick in my back yard. NOW HOW AM I THE SCARY ONE!?"

            "Not helping the scary image there…" Duo replied meekly.

            "…you're actually afraid of me? You've gotta be, like, ten years older than me. Not to mention you've got these… wings," she scoffed, tugging at the wing feathers nearest her. "What are you anyway? A ghost? A spirit? …a necrophiliac?"

            "Necro-YOU'RE FOURTEEN!"

            "And you're old. Whooptie-friggin-do."

            "For your information, I'm eighteen!"

            "And what else are you, hmmm…?" she smirked, toying with the end of his braid.

            "GIVE THAT BACK!" He snatched the plait away from her and hugged it protectively. "_My _name is Duo. _Your_ name is Rachel. _I_ am your guardian angel. _You _are my ward. Don't kill yourself and we'll get along fine."

            "Guardian angel, huh? Well, then." Rachel rose. "You better stop me before I do…" She stood on the deck railing and crossed her arms over her chest. "-this." And with that, she fell backwards off the porch.

            "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?" Duo yelled and rushed down the steps and around to where she landed. "…not funny…" he frowned and she grinned up at him from the pile of leaves she had landed on.

            "You're new at this, aren't you, Duo?"

            "You're new at this, aren't you, Duo?" the braided boy mocked in a girlish voice. "Who told you that? Your old guardian angel?"

            "Never had one."

            "What'd you do? Tell him off?"

            The girl stood up and walked off. 

            "Well, hell, if you say you didn't have one, I believe you! You can see us and all, right? What happened? You tell him he was ugly? You yell at him?" Duo kept it up, trotting just behind her.

            She stopped in her tracks.

            "She died," she said simply and resumed walking.

            "Hey!" Rachel stopped again and turned to look at him.

            "What?"

            He placed his hand on her shoulder. "You've got one now."

~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Ah, Rachel. The walking, talking inside joke. 

**Awa: **I'm still new here. What's the joke?"

**Tori: ***holds up Volume 1 of a Pokémon doujinshi* _Journey to the Top_ a.k.a. _Angel Eyes_.

**Awa: **Ah! You titled that GWing ficlet _Angel Eyes_…

**Tori: **A mental lapse on my part… Haven't heard the end of it since, but I love 'Angel Eyes' as the title for both, so….

**Kegawa: **What are you guys up to?

**Awa: **Oh, nothing. Tori was just reminding me how stupid she is.


	15. Quatre 02, Trowa 02, and Wu Fei 02

**Tori: **WAIIIIIIIII! ^__^* I'm in love with American music!

**Kegawa: **What's new?

**Tori: **Current song obsessions: _Everclear, Rancid, Smile DK, Prozzak, SUGARCULT_!_, _and those sexy boys from the local underground, _Toshi_ _Keiyooshi_!!! ((City Adjectives)).

**Awa: **City Adjectives…?

**Tori: **Yup. *laughs* It's a joke about profanity. And it rhymes! ^___^ _Toshi Keiyooshi…_ Just rolls off the tongue… The word 'roll' on the other hand… Rorr… 'L' is such a crappy letter… ANY~HOO! ^___^*

~*~*~*~*~*~

            Quatre's eyes opened slowly, and he tapped Duet on her other shoulder with his free hand reassuringly until she looked up at him.

            "You're alright!" she cried and collapsed against him. The blonde boy was startled for a moment until her realized she was just sleeping.

            "Yeah…I'm fine," he smiled and ran a hand through her hair. A shadow fell over them and he startled again and looked up.

            "Treize…?"

            The former OZ leader nodded sadly and bent down to scoop up the sleeping angel. 

            "I trust you'll be able to handle the situation, Quatre?"

            He turned, walked out the double doors and disappeared from sight.

            "Situation…?" Quatre looked about him and spotted Kevin sitting dejectedly against the wall a few feet away. The man was older than Quatre, but seemed a hundred times more helpless. His wide brown eyes were filled to their irises with unanswered questions and he trembled in fear for his future. A smiled touched the blonde boy's lips and he walked to him and held out his hand. 

            "I'll take you to where you must go…"

~*~*~*~

            Trowa sat stone faced beside his young ward, clutching his fists in anger as her father reprimanded her on another arbitrary fault for what had to be the third time in their eight-minute car ride. Donna's lip began to tremble. He snapped. 

            "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" he yelled, slamming his fist into the back of the father's seat. It had no effect, instead passing through freely, and for the first time since his death, Trowa felt truly powerless. How was he supposed to guard this girl when he had no influence on anyone!?

            The girl began to sniffle and she pawed at her eyes with delicate porcelain hands. Trowa's brow furrowed and he absent-mindedly gnawed at his thumbnail.

            The situation called upon a combination of logic and compassion, his greatest strength and weakness. He shuffled the few half-sensible conclusions until his hand spelled something he could comprehend. He needed Duet's help. She promised she would come back. Where was she?

~*~*~*~

            Wu Fei sat on the counter by the cash register in the little deli, ebony eyes fixed on his ward. He felt a growing paternal fondness for her, even though he hadn't even been her guardian for a half hour yet. There was something about her that struck a chord in him, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

            "Qué tal?" Maria smirked, bumping her shoulder into a tall black man's arm as she tied on her apron.

            "No hablas espanol…" he replied, matching her smile.

            Wu Fei blinked. He was positive they had not been speaking English...Or any Chinese dialect for that matter, but he had understood them. Ah, the perks of being an angel, he decided.

            "Yeah, yeah, sure… That's what you say every day, Robbie…" she said in a thick Spanish accent, rolling her r's wonderfully. She had such a happy and carefree way about her he had to think for a moment exactly what her problem was. The social scene. Well, she didn't look like she was having much trouble, but he knew better than to make assumptions.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **Please excuse my broken Spanish… *bows* I'm learning from an English-to-Spanish disc, which means in my head I have to go Japanese-English-Spanish. But English is closer to Spanish so it's not as hard as…yeah. *laughs* You don't care, do you? ^___^ The only word that's the same is bread; 'pan' in Japanese and Spanish. O__O Mysterious…

**Awa: ***dramatic gasp* Does this mean KamikazeDucks doujinshi will soon be available ¿'en Español'!?

**Tori: **Um, no… It means I've maxed out the English program and I have to take another language next semester to get full credit for the year.

**Awa: **Oh…


	16. Heero 03, Duo 03, Trowa 03, Duet 01

**Tori: **I have an addiction. "Song In Praise Of My Plastic Cup" by Toshi Keiyooshi

**Awa: **@__@ must…take…off…repeat…

**Kegawa: ***singing* I can wear you as a hat! I can stand you on a shelf! I can suck you to my face so I can look immature because-

**Tori: ***beats him with Ilpalazzo's guitar* YOU'RE KILLING IT FOR ME!

**Kegawa: **YOU'RE KILLING ME!

~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm officially starting a campaign against the letter 'L'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            'How…depressing," Heero thought as he lay atop of a row of gym lockers waiting for Tobias to change. The kid sure was taking a long time… Listlessly, he rolled over and peered down at him.

            "Oh joy… You're smoking pot," Heero grimaced, then froze as the boy's head turned slowly left, then right.

            "Who's there?" he mumbled.

            Heero leapt off the lockers onto the bench in the small section between them.

            "You can… hear me?"

            Tobias looked around again.

            "TOBIAS!" Heero yelled and suddenly wondered at the strange echo. The boy struggled to his feet.

            "MR. MARSHALL!"

            Heero followed his line of sight to the end of the lockers. Standing there, hands on his hips, was a beefy many with a sweat-stained grey tee-shirt and a whistle. He hadn't heard Heero after all…

            "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing, boy?" The gym teacher snatched Tobias's joint away and ground it into the floor. The whole room reeked of pot; a nice smell in comparison to dirty jock strap- and unwashed gym clothes-stink, but a unique, unmistakable scent nonetheless. Heero was surprised he hadn't noticed earlier…

            "I…" the dark haired boy began, leaning on the closest locker for support. Heero stood behind him, his hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

            "You just screwed yourself over, kid."

~*~*~*~

            "So… What are we at the mall for? Clothes? Boys? Lip gloss?" Duo asked, trailing at bit behind his ward with his fingers laced behind his head. She spared him a glare over her shoulder and continued the conversation with her friends. "Right… I'm not supposed to talk to you…" he sighed, "Man, this is a drag."

            The braided angel sighed and dropped his arms, allowing them to hang in front of him uselessly. "Boring… Boring… Strange little psycho girl…" he sing-songed and immediately stumbled into her and fell over. She had stopped, pretending to admire a window display, just to trip him up.

"Grrrrr…" Duo growled, jumping to his feet and rubbing a spot on his bottom that he decided should be sore. "I'll get you back for that, you little punk! …drag me on boring girly trips to the stupid _mall_ on a beautiful _Saturday_ when you could be at _church_ repenting for your _sins_ so you can _die_ a clean _death_ and I can go back to _heaven_ to see my _girlfriend_…"

Rachel winked knowingly and trotted to catch up to her friends

~*~*~*~

            The moment Duet opened her eyes, she knew exactly where she was. The pure light of Heaven stung her eyes after the dust-ridden atmosphere of earth. She lay, a mass of ebony feathers and creamy robes, in a near-pit of soft cushions of nothingness, tinged different pastels to please the eyes.

            She watched with disinterest as a small blue-white bird fluttered down and landed softly on her chest. "Happy waking!" it chirped cheerfully, spreading its delicate, near gossamer, wings and shivering with delight.

            "Sure, Teak. Are Quatre and his ward alright?"

            "Yes, Miss," it replied quickly, folding its wings and dipping in some semblance of a bow.

            "Be sure to alert me when they arrive."

            "Yes, Miss." It bowed again.

            "Now, may I have the news report?"

            Teak opened its mouth to reply in its lilting little voice, but a violet-tinged illusion of a shadow fell over the two. They looked up at once.

            "Duet-sama." Treize bowed, then squatted down to be level with the girl. Duet reclined on her elbows and let her head loll back, grinning, so she could see him. 

"Yes?"

"Don't smile at me like that," he grimaced, indignant.

"I'll do as I please. Now, what's the big deal?"

"There's a back-up in Limbo. God sent Ryuki to cover, but so far all he's done is set of the higher-flying species of birds on fire, so if it wouldn't be _too_ much trouble, would you _please_ come back to work?"

"Hmmm…" Duet and Teak exchanged mismatched looks, then both looked at Treize.

"…I swear…All people do in heaven is give each other funny looks…" Treize grumbled and stood, his brownish-gold wings behind him shivering slightly in a forced stretch. Duet popped up next to him, grinning foolishly.

"Oh, go away…" He shoved her playfully and the smaller angel stumbled. She flared her wings to catch herself and, once righted, attached herself to her former enemy's left arm and smiled up at him.

"Walk with me," she said. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and would have gone undetected if it hadn't splashed onto Treize's hand.

He looked down at her and, frowning, replied, "Certainly."

~*~*~*~

            "Donna… … … Pssst! Donna!" Trowa whispered in the little girl's ear.

            She sat, curled in a corner of her room in her nightgown, trembling and searching within herself for more tears to cry. She was afraid to move, afraid to make a sound and risk waking her father. Her eyes were wide with terror and her pupils dilated in the dark.

            "Donna.. Are you alright?" Trowa tried again, resting his hand on hers. If it was at all possible, her eyes opened even wider. Her hands went to her heart, where she pressed and held as to protect the precious thing it was.

            "Who is there?" she asked quietly, in what was definitely French. Trowa marveled for at moment that _she_ could understand _him_, but chalked it up to his new angelic capabilities and shrugged it off. He struggled for an explanation and was half-prepared to spill the entire story to her, but wisely decided against it.

            "It's me, Trowa… I'm your guardian angel."

            "…Trois?" She looked in the wrong direction and didn't bother to close her mouth. Her sadness was replaced with awe at a speed which only a child's attention can achieve. She reached out at the empty space in front of her. "I can't see you."

            He laughed. Donna startled and looked in the correct direction this time. "Trois!" she squeaked, then caught herself. She froze and listened intently for footsteps outside her door. There were none.

            "Trois… I'm scared…" she whispered and padded slowly over to her bed.

            "It's alright… I'm here."

            "Will you stay until I'm asleep?"

            "I'll stay forever."

            She paused, halfway under the sheets, and though for a moment. "That's good," she decided, and lifted her other foot onto the bed. "Goodnight, Trois."

            "Goodnight, Donna. I'll see you in the morning."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **o__o Man have I fallen behind on this fic. Well, expect a bunch more chapters! I have them written, but they're in Japanese on my one laptop.

**Awa: **And what about _Civilian_?

**Tori: **Shizzlewhatnow?

**Ke: **And _Super Battle Athletes Gundam Wing_? And _Lord of the Butterflies_! _Finders Inc._! _Gundanium Chobits_! _Nezumi Mission_! _Operation Zodiac_! _The Gundam Pilots' guide To The Galaxy_! _YOUNG LOVE_, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

**Tori: **Hmmm… Yanno what? Readers, which do YOU want me to work on? I'll put a poll in my profile… I'm loosing my mind… @__@ What am I FORGETTING!?


	17. Duo 04, Wu Fei 03, Quatre 03

**Tori: **What _does_ 'shizzle' mean, anyway?

**Heero: ***crosses arms and sighs* If you have to ask, you'll never know…

**Tori: **o___o Oh God… Please don't let it be something really perverted… *grabs the front of Heero's shirt* You know how many little kids read Gundam manga these days!?

**Heero: **-___-* If you don't know what a word means, why would you use it!?

**Tori: **Because it's one of those things _you_ say in those rare instances where you choose to display a faint glimmer of a sense of humor. o__o

**Heero: ***deadpan* Ducklings…

**Tori: **And what does THAT mean? __ You guys really need to get around to writing a dictionary for the rest of the world THAT DOESN'T SPEAK 'DEMENTED FUCKED-UP LOSER'!!

**Duo: **You called?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "What're you cryin' for?" Duo's brow was creased with concern. He crossed his arms and stood beside his ward. Rachel lay on a mattress that had been laid on the floor in the crook of the pit couch. Of the friends that she had spent the day with, three were staying over; two on the couches and one next to her on the mattress, all fast asleep.

            "Go AWAY," she whispered harshly into her pillow.

            The braided boy sat next to the mattress, but she rolled over to face away from him and continued to sob silently into her pajama sleeves. He reached for her shoulder to turn her back, but she pulled the comforter up to her chin and he withdrew his hand.

            "Sometimes a girl just needs to cry." The girl next to Rachel stirred and the two froze until she resettled.

            "I don't get you… You're happy one minute and sobbing your little glass heart out the next! I'd blame it on your hormones, but obviously none of them have kicked in yet."

            Rachel reached over and gave Duo's braid a sharp tug.

            "Hey! I was just tryin' to lighten the mood a bit! We both know you've got nice curves for a fourteen year old---OW! OW! OW!"

            "Keep your eyes to yourself, you…you weirdo." She snorted in amusement at her momentary loss for derogatory nouns.

            "Alright… Alright… I'll get serious. Now, what's buggin' ya?"

            With a little sigh and a great shifting of blankets, Rachel sat up on the mattress. Duo could see in the eerie near-dawn light the stains of red around her eyes. It made her eyes look more intense-nearly aquamarine.

            "You… Them." She nodded slightly to indicate her friends.

            "…you angry at me?" Duo asked.

            "No… I'm angry at the world. You just happen to be part of it."

            "Well, what'd the world do to piss you off?"

            "It's nothing you need to worry about…"

            "Yes, it is. I'm your guardian angel. I'm here to fricken guard you, alright?"

            "…I'd love to meet the guy who decided you were qualified for this…"

            "Who said anything about me being qualified? This is just what I do… I listen. So tell me what's wrong…"

            "You don't get it… I'm a catch-22."

            "I love that band…"

            "No! Not the band…" She rolled her eyes. "Your idiocy is supreme…"

            "I'm just playing with you… You mean catch-22 like in the military, right?"

            "Yeah. I'm a crazy person, Duo Maxwell. I'm neurotic. I mean, I shouldn't even be able to see you…any of you. But if I can acknowledge to myself that I'm crazy, am I really crazy?" 

            Duo fully expected her to start crying again, but her face was completely stoic. This was apparently  something she asked herself a lot, and she had the question memorized right down to its sentence structure. It was a tough question…but as anyone who's spoken to Duo knows…Shinigami knows all.

            "You need to rethink your definition of crazy…"

            "What's to rethink? It means I'm decrepit, deranged…weakened or disordered in intellect. Or would you like it in medical terms? There I'm someone with a functional or emotional disorder marked by severe anxiety, depression, and the like without any apparent psychical origin. See also psychoneurosis! THAT'S a neurosis in which the patient's anxieties, fears, and physical complaints are emotional and-"

            "Shut up." Duo growled. Rachel froze, wide-eyed. Duo had never struck her as the type to actually get angry over something. "You've got a real mental problem. You should go see a therapist. No one has EVER had a problem like yours before. …is that what you want me to say?"

            "I…" she was at a loss for words. She couldn't bear to look at him, so instead she looked over her shoulder at her girlfriends. She found some strength there, but it was drained away again and then some when she remembered that they didn't know what kind of hell was inside her head. Would they even care if they did?

            "Look at me."

            When she turned, she met him glare for glare. She wanted to shout things at him, but she didn't know what those things were. She wanted to tell him he had the wrong idea. That she just wanted to get better. That she just wanted to be normal like everyone else. …but she didn't.

            "Is that what you wanted?" he asked.

            "No," she replied coldly.

            "Then what do you want?" His eyes never softened. He really was angry, she marveled. But over what? Why would he waste such intense emotion one some little fourteen year old girl he hardly knew?

            "I want… a friend. One who knows what I see, and who believes me…"

            The tears finally came as Rachel lay down again, cuddling closer to her friend.

            Duo's expression finally softened. "S'what I'm here for, kiddo…"

~*~*~*~

            "You know… My ward's supposed to have 95% social problems, and so far she hasn't been emotional at all," Wu Fei explained to the blonde woman next to him. She smiled at him, and rested a hand on his shoulder.

            "Ninety-five is just a percentile… It could be ninety-five percent of 365, or ninety-five percent of 7…"

            "Huh?"

            "People's problems aren't twenty-four/ seven…It's just, of the problems she has, ninety-five percent are due to her social life."

            "I understand now…" the Chinese angel mused. "Thank you, Mrs. Hayton."

            "Please, Wu Fei. Just call me Carol," she smiled.

            Carol was the guardian of Maria's friend, Robbie, which means she and Wu Fei saw quite a bit of each other. Carol was about thirty when she'd died in a car crash, she had explained. She didn't remember much of what had happened, but she was happy enough with her current employment and patiently awaited her return to heaven.

            In the hours that dragged by while Maria and Robbie were busy at the deli, the two angels passed the time chatting. Wu Fei had, in the span of a few days, revealed to her his entire life story up until his death, which he was still having trouble accepting. He told her about his friends, his job, and his wife who was in heaven waiting for him. She in turn told him about her childhood, and about the children she had now. She liked to baby Wu Fei in the absence of her own daughter, and what could he do but allow her?

~*~*~*~

            "Where are we going?" Kevin asked. He followed slightly behind Quatre as the blonde boy weaved his way through the crowds of people along the sidewalk.

            "I'm…trying to find a Catholic church…" he replied sheepishly. He'd been so caught up in trying to be a firm leader for Kevin that he'd forgotten Kevin had lived here nearly all his life. He probably knew the city like the back of his hand.

            "Oh… Does it have to be Catholic? The temple I go to isn't far from here."

            Another blunder, Quatre realized. He was so nervous. He had to rely on his heart, not bits of false trivia he'd called up from the back of his mind; things he'd read in pamphlets that Catholic fanatics sometimes slipped under the front door on certain Sundays.

            "A temple would do just fine," Quatre replied cheerfully. A smile graced Kevin's lips for a moment, but it faded quickly.

            So silly, Quatre thought. It didn't matter what god someone believed in… Heck, it probably didn't even matter if they worshiped a god or not. As long as someone's led a good life…their soul would be clean, right? After that thought, even finding a temple seemed foolish. Some people worshiped at home… Some brought God everywhere they went… Quatre stopped walking. Kevin noticed a few seconds later that the shorter boy was no longer following him, and quickly backtracked.

            "What's wrong?" he asked.

            "We spent all that time searching…and the way to get into heaven has been here all along," Quatre replied.

            "Where?" the African-American man looked around, not sure what he was expecting to see, but knowing full well he hadn't seen it.

            "I'm sorry… I was being foolish." Quatre smiled up at the sky. "We're ready now, Allah."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori:** *giggle* I went on a cleaning spree today…

**Ke: **Tori, you don't live here.

**Tori: **^__^ I cleaned out all your closets, guys! And look what I found! *pulls leash, jerking Quatre into view*

**Awa: **I am gonna laugh SO hard when he just up and kills you one day.


	18. Trowa 04, Heero 04, Duet 02

**Awa: ***raises an eyebrow* That last chapter was a bit of a head trip, ne?

**Tori: **^__~ Duo's a guardian angel already… Now if only we could get that Heero boy to repent…!

**Ke: **Oh, shut up. You know you like man-whore Heero just the way he is.

**Tori: ***giggle* Hee~ero's a ma~an who~re.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Trois! What are you doing? The princess's dress should be _pink_, not _yellow_," Donna scolded, shaking an oversized crayon at the Russian boy stretched out on the floor next to her. Her bottom lip jutted out in mock-anger, but her face glowed with happiness. She shook her head at him, setting her large blonde curls swinging and bouncing.

            Trowa had to smile. "I thought she would look pretty in-"

            His sentence was cut short when Donna's bedroom door slammed open. They both looked up.

            "Who the hell are you talking to!?" the girl's father snarled, glancing about then fixing his burning stare on his daughter.

            "N-no one, papa."

            "Well then shut the hell up, you nutcase!" He slammed the door shut with such force, two of the dolls on a shelf near the door toppled to the floor.

            Donna was crying.

~*~*~*~

            "Hey, mom…" Tobias mumbled into the receiver of the payphone mounted on the wall. Heero stood beside him, leaning in slightly to catch both halves on the conversation.

            The woman on the other end mumbled something, and Tobias looked around before replying, "Jail."

            "What HAPPENED!?"

            "I was smoking at school…"

            "Tobias…" the woman choked, "I…"

            "Will you come and get me?"

            "…no. You're staying the night. Maybe you'll…you'll learn."

            Tobias jerked the phone away and slammed it onto the phone hook. He grumbled profanity under his breath and glared sideways at the guard with the keys, who was caught up in a conversation with another inmate.

            "You brought this upon yourself, you know," Heero said evenly. His ward shunned away, staring angrily at the far wall. "What I don't get is what compelled you to light up _then_. You're not that stupid… So were you so sure you weren't going to get caught, or was it a cry for attention?"

            "Maybe now I can get some decent help…"

            Heero smirked. "Not the best way to go about quitting, but I'll give you some credit, Toby."

~*~*~*~

            "Holy trinity, Treize…I was only gone for a few hours…" Duet huffed as she and the taller angel weaved their way through a line of souls towards the gates of Limbo. 

            "JULIAN!" Both angels looked ahead, startled. Storming out of the gate in front of them was a rather angry-looking seraph. He stomped right up to Duet, crossed his arms, and glared down at her. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" he demanded.

            Duet twitched. "…turn the volume down, ya flamer…"

            "Hmph."

            "Well, Ryuki, I can see you've done an absolutely brilliant job assigning wards…"

            "Well maybe if you weren't off SOCIALIZING with sinners, you could take care of your own job!"

            "Children…" Treize frowned and pushed them apart.

            "WRITHE IN THE FIRES OF DAMNATION!"

            "Make me!" Duet retorted and stuck out her tongue. She turned up her nose and walked right past him headed for the gate.

            Ryuki shook a fist at her, but reconsidered and dropped it. "…spunky little hell-spawn…" he sighed.

            "Miss! *pant pant* Miss!" Teak cried flapping violently to catch up to its master. Out of breath, he perched for a short break on Ryuki's head. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll be gone in a moment…"

            "…bird?" _FOOM!_ Teak was, quite frankly, on fire. When the flames died moments later, a rather charred-looking avian sat upon the angel's head. It coughed up a puff of smoke and, disoriented, fluttered off.

            "Thanks…for the rest…I think…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **LOOK! *gasp* TEAK PLUSHIES!!! *huggles Koge-Tori Teak*

**Saori: **Chaaaaaaaaaaa… Anata wa baka…

**Tori: **Boku-tachi no shousetsu wa hikuteamata. Boku wa sakkatoshitenarasu!

**Saori: **Watashi wa hipparidako mangaka! Anata-

**Ke: **This could go on forever… -__- Blah blah blah… they go on to curse each other out…then they both die. The end.

**Awa: **Magical…


	19. Quatre 04, Duo 05, Wu Fei 04

**Awa: ***peers over Tori's shoulder* What'cha working on?

**Tori: **Making a firearm out of a book of matches, a stapler, and four click springs. *poking around inside the stapler*

**Awa: **If I may ask…why?

**Tori: **I've been falling behind on my resource training. Gotta stay sharp.

**Awa: **Ah… that explains why you're working by potato-light.

**Tori: **Don't make jokes. You just never know when you may need to blow open a door with only a bottle of RediWhip and a pair of safety scissors.

**Awa: **…knowing your friends, that may just come in handy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Saint Peter peered over the top of his newspaper at the two men in front of him. "Back so soon, Quatre?"

         Quatre smiled and gestured for Kevin to approach the high desk. "Don't worry," he whispered reassuringly.

         "Name?"

         "Kevin Jordan."

         "Jordan… Hmmm… Ah! Kevin Jordan," Saint Peter mumbled to himself as he ran his finger down the page. "Let's see… Big turn-around at sixteen. Things were really going in your direction after that." He looked up and smiled. "Go right in, Kevin. I'm sure your penance will be short."

         "Thank you, sir," Kevin replied and held a hand over his heart.

         "Quatre, you go in too. Report to Julian as soon as possible."

         "Yes, sir."

~*~*~*~

         Mrs. Marshall was a petite woman with wide brown eyes and long, dark hair. She was not Italian, but she looked the part. The slight wrinkles near the corners of her mouth and eyes were the only hints at her age. Her walk was that of a business woman and she seemed almost imposing despite her small stature.

"I've been talking with Aunt Amanda… She says you're welcome to stay with her as long as you stay out of trouble," she said in fluent Italian, tilting her chin up slightly so she could look her son in the face. Heero stood behind her, but Tobias looked away.

"You're sending me to America?"

Heero perked up. America…was good. It was familiar. Maybe…maybe Heero might actually be of help there. If only Duet would come back and explain exactly _how_ he could accomplish that.

"Tobias, it's for the best."

"When am I leaving?"

"On Sunday. Be ready by then."

"Whatever…"

Tobias stuffed his hands in his pockets. A moment of silence passed between the two, then, with a rustle of starched fabric on worn flannel, Mrs. Marshall clung to her son, hugging him about the middle.

"I'm sorry, Toby. I understand… And I'm not mad. Please just remember I love you, okay…?" she murmured. Tobias froze for a moment, then lay a slender hand on her shoulder.

"I know, mom. I know."

Heero smiled.

~*~*~*~

Rachel sat on the concrete and brink steps in front of her house and stared blankly at the weeping cherry tree blocking most of her vision. Beside her was her bluish-purple book bag, one strap slightly torn from three years of wearing it on only one shoulder. She wore a blue plaid skit and a light blue golf shirt, her school uniform.

Behind her in the open doorway, Duo leaned against the frame, hands shoved in the pockets of his uncharacteristic white robe.

Neither moved. They rested so still it seemed more like some surreal photograph. A light breeze plucked a few blossoms from the tree and scattered them across the walkway. Finally, Rachel spoke.

"I'm graduating next week," she said, but didn't move.

         "You must be excited."

         "Oh yes… Thrilled…" she grumbled and glared at a stray piece of mulch as if it deeply offended her.

         "You don't want to graduate?"

         "Not at all. There are fifty-eight people in my whole class, including me. We've known each other since we were all five or six years old. I don't know any other life besides this one and frankly I'm content this way. I have no desire to grow up, move on and put those years behind me. Life is good right now."

         Duo heaved a sigh and sat down next to her on the stoop. He looked at the little girl and smiled. "All you have to do is make an effort to keep in touch."

         She slid him an evil glare. "We both know that's a lie. Everyone will make new friends and move on, but I can't and I don't want to. I'll get left behind. Everyone's going to different high schools… I'm going to _public_ school."

         "HEY! There is nothing wrong with the public school system. I know you'd rather be at the catholic high schools with your friends-"

         "You better be careful throwing around a phrase like 'I know', Duo. It was my decision to go to public school. My parents wanted me to go with everyone else."

         "Then what the hell are you complaining about?"

         "Duo… If I'd gone with them, I'd only be fooling myself. I may be in the same school with them, but it would never be the same as the old days. I'd be there to see them ditch me for new friends or ignore me because I'm not cool enough for them anymore. Besides, I need to do some growing up. And there are more opportunities at a public school. More budget. More kinds of people."

         Duo blinked at her a few times. Then a few more. Then, with a rustle of cloth and a surprised squeak from Rachel, he hugged her.

~*~*~*~

         The stench of rotting sewage mixed with the smell of honey-roasted peanuts sold by a vendor on the street corner wafted in the open door of the New York deli. Maria wilted in her chair behind the counter and next to the noisy air conditioner, fanning herself with yesterday's sports section. Robbie busied himself stocking drinks in the refrigerator and shooing flies away from the open buffet of salads and coleslaw. Once in a while a customer would wander in, usually a tourist looking for a bottle of water or iced tea and the paper.

         It was a slow day.

         Wu Fei and Carol watched disinterestedly. As angels, they weren't subject to the discomforts of the sweltering combination of heat and humidity or reek of the city in early summer.

         "Something exciting better happen to Maria and I soon or they'll cut us out if this doujinshi completely," Wu Fei muttered off to the side.

         "Hm?" Carol arched an eyebrow at the younger angel.

         "Er… Woah, that fly totally has the hots for that piece of potato. Look'it 'im go."

         "… … …you and my daughter would have gotten along so well. Same strange sense of humor."

         "…does she like punk rock?"

         "…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Tori: **o___o *hides behind Heero*

**Heero: **…what are you hiding from?

**Tori: ***points at you* Them.

**Heero: ***looks at you* Better start running, then, Tor. They definitely look like they could kick your ass.

**Tori: **-___-* …my hero…


	20. Duet 03, Heero 05, Trowa 05

**Tori: **Runnin' to the railroad track! Run along with Captain Jack.. Ba de da doh, ba de da doh, ba de da de da de da doh…

**Wu Fei: **…don't push me, Yuki.

**Tori: **Goooo left go right go pick up the step go left go right go le~ft!

**Wu Fei: **That is IT. We shall deathmatch. *pulls out the other DDR mat*

-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

-

"Treize, I'm not kidding… You're going to have to get someone in here to deal with the Sinners because I've gotta go back down there," Duet explained as she shifted through some of the papers on her desk. Frustrated, she shoved them aside and started checking through the drawers on either side of her black office chair. She sat in the middle of the medium-sized room, completely frazzled. Before her desk was an overstuffed armchair with its back to the door. On the desk itself sat two squat wire bins, one labeled 'in' and the other 'out', the former significantly fuller than the latter, as well as an ornate silver scale, Duet's signature device. The walls were lined completely with bookcases filled with leather-bound volumes of yellowed pages stretching up to the ten foot ceiling. It was an intimidating place for any newly dead which meant it was perfectly cozy for Duet.

"I'm sorry, but God forbids it. That's special treatment."

"Well he better get over it pretty quick and let me go or I'll special treat him…"

Treize closed his eyes. He rubbed his left temple, flicked a few stray hairs back, and sighed as he watched her tear her workspace apart. Shreds of paper danced through the air and settled gently on the Oriental carpet. "What exactly are you looking for?" he asked.

"These."

Treize startled and turned around. God stood a few feet behind him, a set of keys dangling off his index finger. Duet appeared from under her desk, stood up and straightened her robes. "God…" she smiled poisonously and fixed her crooked halo before she approached Him. "…gimme my keys."

"Ah-ah… I believe you have a job to do." The deity pointed at the scales sitting on Duet's desk, half-buried in papers.

"Yeah, well… beliefs can differ as long as you lead a good life, right?"

"Believe what you will. You're not getting these…"

"I'll fight ya for 'em." Duet grinned and put up her fists. "C'mon… Loser gets thrown outta heaven…"

"You're starting to sound like your father…" God frowned and palmed the jingling keys.

"But Go~od! I left a bunch of idiots down there and they need help…"

"You leave idiots down there every day, Julian. (here Duet cringed) Succeeding on their own is part of their penance. To let you interfere would be cheating."

Duet's fists dropped and she heaved a sigh.

"Now, please… You've got a line of sinners backed up almost to the gate and you don't want Peter in here chewing you out anymore than I do."

"Fine… Fine…"

"I knew you'd see it my way." God smiled. He nodded politely to Treize and left the same way he came; completely without warning and with a disturbingly but not-terribly-flashy bit of disappearing.

~*~*~*~

            Tobias stood dejectedly in front of the baggage carousel waiting for his luggage pass. His aunt was supposed to meet him when he got off the plane but he didn't find her. He didn't even remember what she looked like so he couldn't have recognized her.

            On the flight, Heero had mastered a useful little trick with the help of some of the other passengers' angels and was now sitting quite comfortably on the boy's left shoulder. "Heh, I'm a shoulder angel…" Heero mumbled, gloating a bit at the skill he'd acquired without Duet's help, "Wonder if there's a devil one, too." Sighing, the angel reclined against Tobias's neck and drew up his knees. He crosses his arms on them and looked out at the hundreds of people scurrying about the airport. He'd become quite adept at spotting fellow guardians and was surprised to see the wide range these guardians came in.

            A few feet away a kind-looking old woman grasped the hand of her middle-aged son. On her shoulder sat a mere child, brown baloney curls falling down her back and green eyes sparkling. Her robes were a bit too large, but her rosy wings were proportionately small. On the other hand, on the man's shoulder was tall, fierce-looking woman of African descent. She had a firm grim on the man's ear lobe and her dark brown wings fluttered every time her perch shifted. Heero sort of waved at them, but neither saw him.

            As Heero was relaxing, Tobias found his way to a chair and was playing cards with himself on the squat table in front of him. Both boys were surprised when a hand clapped Tobias on the shoulder ((Heero moreso because the hand had come dangerously close to his sandaled feet)).

            "Hey, Toby! Welcome to America! I almost didn't recognize you," the owner of the hand said. Tobias turned and looked up over his left shoulder.

            "Hey, Aunt Amanda."

            Aunt Amanda was a young woman, barely in her twenties. Her longish red-tinted hair curled and bounced as she moved and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "You're gonna have a great time here, Toby. I've got your room all set up! I even got you a minifridge so you can keep all your beer in there that I won't know about." Amanda winked, her smile widening. Tobias continued to stare blankly at her looking as if he was trying to force himself to care.

            Heero had perked up at 'minifridge'.

~*~*~*~

            Sunlight streamed in through the window and set Donna's cheeks aglow. Her dark, thick eyelashes fluttered and slowly opened. "Trois…?" she whispered hesitantly and looked up at the figure standing beside her bed.

            "Who the deuce is 'Trois'!?" Donna's father demanded. Donna squeaked and quickly sat up, clutching her sheets to her chest. There was a deafening CRACK as his hand connected with her face. "I'm sick of all this crazy talk! You want to get sent away to an institution!? That's what they do with little girls who talk to themselves! They tie up their arms and lock them in the dark until they cry themselves to death!"

            The slap had knocked Donna on her back. She had curled into the fetal position under the sheets, clutching her knees and whimpering in pain. Her visible cheek was red with tears and the growing welt. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prayed that her father would just leave. That he would go away and never, ever, in a million years come back again and then she could stay in her room and play with Trois forever. Trois…

            "Are you listening to me!? Donna, I swear to-"

            Silence.

            Donna lay still until a few seconds had passed. Nothing happened. Cautiously, she unwrapped herself. Still nothing. So slowly it was almost painful, she turned her head and peered over her shoulder. "Trois!"

            She sat up quickly and looked around. She could not see her father. All she saw was Trois… He just stood there, a horrified look on his face. He was staring at something, something on the floor. Donna crawled to the edge of her bed and looked down. There lay her father.

            His face was contorted in pain and his hands clutched at his chest, over his heart. It didn't look like he was breathing.

            Trowa broke his stare and looked up at Donna. "Donna! I'm so sorry! Merci… Merci…" he pleaded. Donna made no response. Instead, she continued to stare at her father. Trowa stepped around the body and sat on the bed next to Donna. He put an arm around her, pulling her closer. Silently, the little girl shrugged off his arm and crawled across the bed to reach the phone on her nightstand. Calm and composed, she dialed the number for the local police and told them that her father had collapsed. As she did this, not a single tear escaped her eye.

            When she was finished, she crawled back over to Trowa and put her head in his lap. Now, she cried, but Trowa had a feeling it was more from shock than grief. Still, Trowa couldn't shake the overwhelming sense of guilt.

            As her father was yelling at her, Trowa because furious. When he struck her, that was the final straw. The guardian angel summoned all his strength and all his anger and all his feelings of uselessness and futility and let loose a blow straight into the father's back, straight to where a feeling person's heart should be. He had expected nothing; that his fist would pass though the flesh as it always had, ineffective and frustrating. Instead, inside the man's chest, Trowa's fist connected with something, and that something broke.

            "Merci, Donna… Merci…"

            "Don't worry, Trois… It's not your fault." Her soft hand patted his thigh reassuringly. "It's okay, Trois… Don't be sad."

            "Donna…" Trowa ran a hand through Donna's blonde curls and his frown deepened. "I'm so sorry…" he whispered, biting back tears of his own.

-

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**-**

**Tori: **Hoo boy! Been a while since you've seen one'a these, ka? I'm completely neurotic these days, so even I don't know the next time I'll get around to translating more of this. (Manga format to English txt – not Japanese txt to English txt)


End file.
